If things get heavy

Two things before we go further.

First: this course isn't treatment and the app isn't a clinician. If your use is tied up with depression, anxiety, trauma, compulsive behaviour that spans more than porn, or if it's putting your job or relationship at serious risk, a therapist who works with compulsive sexual behaviour will do more for you in ten sessions than any app will in ten months. The best evidence we have for treating this points at CBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, delivered by a person.

Second: shame around this can get dark fast, and communities built on streaks and relapse are documented as making that worse for some people. A preregistered study of men in those communities found that perceived relapse was commonly followed by shame, worthlessness, and in some cases thoughts of suicide. If your head goes there, stop using this app and talk to someone.

Get help sits at the top of every lesson, on the Panic screen, and on every screen you'll meet after logging a slip. It opens real numbers you can call, and it works with no signal — the list is stored on your phone, not fetched.

You're not going to be told off here for anything. That's the deal.

Takeaways

• This is a course, not treatment. A person beats an app when it's serious.
• Get help is one tap from every lesson and works with no signal.
• Nothing you do here gets a telling-off. That's the deal.